Snow Season = Play Season

There's something to be said about taking morning walks in Winter's freshly fallen snow.  Waking up early on a Saturday or Sunday morning to freshly fallen snow, or to a light snow shower, offers the perfect time to take Marley (our Yellow Lab/Golden Retriever cross) for a walk and to clear the sleepy cob-webs from my head.

(Marley telling me to come along)

(checking out the view from Ridgeview on a snowy morning)

I love the Snow Season (I won't call it the Winter Season, because the season of Snow spans beyond the season of Winter here in Ontario).  I love that when I take deep breathes of the crisp snowy air I feel refreshed and grateful for being alive and able to enjoy its freshness.  I love how the snow twinkles in the sunlight, and the moonlight.  Some people run and hide at the first sight of snow - I smile with excitement like a kid in a toy store as I watch the snow flakes (the snow fairies) dance their way to the ground, and hope enough will accumulate so I can go play (to make snow angels with the kids, to slide down the hill, to go snow-shoeing on our trails, to make snowmen or have snow fights with Marley and the kids - Marley likes to play in the snow too :)).  The Snow Season is a perfect PLAY season.

(making snow tracks)

Then, when I'm all played out, I stomp the snow off my boots, and make my way in the house to our roaring fireplace.  There, I curl up on with a soft fuzzy blanket on the couch and smile at the warmth of the fire, and at the site of the snow still twinkling outside.  And sometimes, I even catch a glimpse of the birds and bunnies feasting on the fresh birdseed I put out for them.

(feeding the birds)

What do you do to enjoy the Snow Season?

The leaves have fallen

Fall is both one of my favorite times of year (because of the vibrant colors), and least favorites...the time after the vibrant colors of the season, barren trees revealing once again the dirt and ugliness of the forest floor, until winter brings a cold white blanket to cover it again until spring. 

Oct 20-12 - view of back yard from the loft

Oct 27-12 - one week later

Harvest Moon Meditation

Hello Fall, and hello Harvest Moon.  Although it's cloudy out tonight so that I can't see the moon, the clouds did dissipate enough last night for me to catch a glimpse of the Harvest Moon...not as bright as I had hoped, but no less powerful.  I love watching the moon it all its brightness.  I stare, captivated by its light and energy, and listen to the wind blow through the trees.  There's a running joke I have with my husband on full moon nights - that there's no way I'm getting to sleep before the wee hours of the night, so I might as well do something productive. 

Since we've put the house renovations on hold for the time being, that productivity is poured into writing, and making jewellery - two of my favorite hobbies.  I tell people that's my therapy - doing something that I love, that requires enough focus for the task at hand to completely forget about everything else - an active meditation. 

Recently I shared a few of my poems with my writing group.  Because I write from the heart, a couple of my writer friends thanked me for being so open, and leaving myself vulnerable.  My response to their comments:   If you write for your own pleasure, you have only yourself to please...if you write to please others, then you’ll please no one.  I write what I write because it pleases me to do so – it’s therapy...I don’t feel vulnerable at all – quite the opposite actually – I feel liberated. 

There comes a point in one’s life when she lets go of the fear that holds her captive – fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of inadequacy, fear of loss, fear of pain...It is in that moment that one becomes free to truly live, and it is then that doors open and possibilities become endless.

So, let go of your fears and do what you love to do just for the love of doing it...the rest will come (being the start of a new season, it's the perfect time to do so...like detox for the soul). :)

Happy Harvest!
Cheers!

PS - Check out the new issue of Sibella Poetry Magazine - now available online.  I just love the flow of this issue.  My poem "My Life, My Path" appears on page 4.  It amazes me how all of us contributing writers come together from various walks and corners of the earth to create something with common threads, never once speaking to each other during the process.